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Recognition, Reification, and Practices of Forgetting: Ethical Implications of Human Resource Management

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  • Gazi Islam

    (MC - Management et Comportement - EESC-GEM Grenoble Ecole de Management)

Abstract

This article examines the ethical framing of employment in contemporary human resource management (HRM). Using Axel Honneth's theory of recognition and classical critical notions of reification, I contrast recognition and reifying stances on labor. The recognition approach embeds work in its emotive and social particu-larity, positively affirming the basic dignity of social actors. Reifying views, by contrast, exhibit a forgetfulness of recognition, removing action from its existential and social moorings, and imagining workers as bundles of discrete resources or capacities. After discussing why reification is a problem, I stress that recognition and reifi-cation embody different ethical standpoints with regards to organizational practices. Thus, I argue paradoxically that many current HRM best practices can be maintained while cultivating an attitude of recognition. If reification is a type of forgetting, cultivating a recognition attitude involves processes of ''remembering'' to foster work relations that reinforce employee dignity.

Suggested Citation

  • Gazi Islam, 2012. "Recognition, Reification, and Practices of Forgetting: Ethical Implications of Human Resource Management," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-01232667, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:gemptp:hal-01232667
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-012-1433-0
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: http://hal.grenoble-em.com/hal-01232667
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Martha S. Feldman & Wanda J. Orlikowski, 2011. "Theorizing Practice and Practicing Theory," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(5), pages 1240-1253, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Olga Alexandra Chinita Pirrolas & Pedro Miguel Alves Ribeiro Correia, 2022. "Literature Review on Human Resource Churning—Theoretical Framework, Costs and Proposed Solutions," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-15, October.
    2. Stéphanie Arnaud & David Wasieleski, 2014. "Corporate Humanistic Responsibility: Social Performance Through Managerial Discretion of the HRM," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 120(3), pages 313-334, March.
    3. María Lucila Osorio Andrade Osorio & Sergio Madero & Regina A. Greenwood, 2019. "Humanism Under Construction: the Case of Mexican Circular Migration," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 55-69, July.
    4. Max Visser, 2019. "Pragmatism, Critical Theory and Business Ethics: Converging Lines," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 45-57, April.
    5. Nicola M. Pless & Thomas Maak & Howard Harris, 2017. "Art, Ethics and the Promotion of Human Dignity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 144(2), pages 223-232, August.
    6. Kate Daisy Bone, 2021. "Cruel Optimism and Precarious Employment: The Crisis Ordinariness of Academic Work," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 174(2), pages 275-290, November.
    7. Zawadzki Michał, 2018. "Dignity in the Workplace. The Perspective of Humanistic Management," Journal of Management and Business Administration. Central Europe, Sciendo, vol. 26(1), pages 171-188, March.
    8. Kelly Thomson & Joanne Jones, 2017. "Precarious Professionals: (in)Secure Identities and Moral Agency in Neocolonial Context," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(4), pages 747-770, December.
    9. Kristen Lucas, 2015. "Workplace Dignity: Communicating Inherent, Earned, and Remediated Dignity," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(5), pages 621-646, July.
    10. Marco Guerci & Adelien Decramer & Thomas Waeyenberg & Ina Aust, 2019. "Moving Beyond the Link Between HRM and Economic Performance: A Study on the Individual Reactions of HR Managers and Professionals to Sustainable HRM," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(3), pages 783-800, December.
    11. Babita Bhatt, 2022. "Ethical Complexity of Social Change: Negotiated Actions of a Social Enterprise," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 177(4), pages 743-762, May.
    12. Teea Kortetmäki & Anna Heikkinen & Ari Jokinen, 2023. "Particularizing Nonhuman Nature in Stakeholder Theory: The Recognition Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 185(1), pages 17-31, June.
    13. Gabriele Fassauer & Ronald Hartz, 2016. "Stories of Adoration and Agony: The Entanglement of Struggles for Recognition, Emotions and Institutional Work," Schmalenbach Business Review, Springer;Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft, vol. 17(2), pages 173-193, August.
    14. Gazi Islam, 2020. "Psychology and Business Ethics: A Multi-level Research Agenda," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(1), pages 1-13, August.

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